Specimen #1693

Name: Spessartine Garnet (large floater)

Type: Mineral

Locality: Loliando, Tanzania

Favorite? N

Fluorescent? N

Size: 5.9 x 5.8 x 5.1 cm

Weight: 254

Acquired: 2009-11-03

Source: Arkenstone Auction

Label: N

Comment: 254 grams. A shocking, complete floater garnet crystal of Large Miniature size! This is very literally a "golfball", sharp and equant all around! The crystal is much more gemmy and translucent in person, and glows intense fiery orange when backlit strongly. For the size, this is unusually well preserved with just a few small dings despite all the exposed corners. It is otherwise free of damage and again, amazingly symmetrical for one of this size. The find of these was shocking...nobody has ever seen large spessartines of such quality, in quantity. True, there was some chaos in the beginning when these came out, for about 6 months, not knowing how large the find was. In hindsight, it seems to have been relatively brief and not so many good ones have come in the last 6-10 months. For the size, as well, you get few so sharp, and so well preserved. This is a stunning geometric crystal.

Minerals: Spessartine (Mn⁺⁺₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃) Garnet

There are 2 pictures on file

M01693-01.jpg:

Spessartine Garnet, Loliando, Tanzania - 5.9 x 5.8 x 5.1 cm

M01693-02.jpg:

Spessartine Garnet, Loliando, Tanzania - 5.9 x 5.8 x 5.1 cm